The what could have been’s of the world are endless. One of mine is the lament of Hummer’s demise as a brand. While in hindsight it was a bit of a flourish, a trophy to a better time in our economy. I have to admit I had a soft spot for them though, having owned and loved a 2005 Hummer H2 for some time.
It was the last in a string of large SUV’s I had owned starting with a couple of Chevy Tahoes. I had never much toiled over the negativity that the eco-crowd spun about them as it was mostly posturing and whining in my opinion. They never burned a row of Chevy Tahoes or Ford-F-150’s to the ground in protest, yet those vehicles were virtually identical in size, weight and in efficiency.
What I regret most about the demise of the Hummer brand is that it likely did not have to happen. Most people agree that GM flubbed up a lot of things. The economy in the past couple of years has flubbed up a lot of things. But the Hummer did not have to be a casualty. There was a way past its reputation for being a 10-12 mpg icon of evil capitalism gone wrong.
GM has a corporate 6.6 liter Duramax diesel V8 had they offered in the H2 may have been a top seller. I know many will disagree, but if you look at large pickups like the Ford SuperDuty or GM 3500 series, the majority of these are equipped with diesels. A diesel H2 would have brought a lot of the diesel cult following over the Hummer brand while offering a modest improvement in mpg.
The 365hp and 660 lb-ft of torque would have offered a better driving experience than the wheezing 6.0 gas V8 without question. The heavy duty chassis under the H2 would have been more than enough to carry the diesel. Sure it might have cost more, but hell when you are already spending $65,000 for a big off-roader what is another $4000-5000 for a diesel option?
In the last year or so GM had a smaller lighter 4.5 liter turbo-diesel they were working on for lighter trucks and was said to be headed to the Hummer. With GM’s fatal death bed days, the last news was that the project was shelved. Even so, it was too late. The time to have offered the Duramax in the H2 was on day one.
I believe that an H2 Diesel could have been a much better seller, a less dastardly mantle for the eco-crowd, and a more attractive option for toy haulers alike. But as we all know, most marketing gurus at American manufacturers think they know best. They have thought diesel to be some abstraction that nobody really wants. If only they had thought outside the box. Perhaps at least with the American manufacturer’s this “Come To Jesus” time right now might open their eyes to the fact they don’t know much about us at all.
For Hummer unfortunately, that tank has left the field. GM is selling or shuttering the brand by year’s end.
